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All the Times Game of Thrones Tried to Tell You Who Jon Snow’s Father Is

This post contains frank discussion of Game of Thrones Season 7, Episode 7, “The Dragon and the Wolf.” If you are not caught up, now is the time to leave.

At the end of Season 6, Game of Thrones finally confirmed what book readers had suspected for a long time: Lyanna Stark is Jon Snow’s mother. Still, despite an official HBO infographic and a number of major clues dropped along the way, the identity of Jon’s father remained fuzzy for some. Was it Rhaegar Targaryen, who had allegedly kidnapped Lyanna and whisked her away to the Tower of Joy? Maybe it was Robert Baratheon, to whom Lyanna was engaged? What about Aerys, the Mad King?

All that confusion is too bad, because truly, the show has been trying to tell you all along. Here is the evidence, conscientiously gathered by YouTuber Robbie McD. More info on who Rhaegar was and the actor who played him below.

The season 7 finale dispelled all doubt in the most uncomfortable way possible. Fans got to watch Sam and Bran put together the pieces on Jon Snow’s parentage while Jon (or should we call him Aegon?) and his aunt Daenerys were consummating their season-long flirtation.

It’s such a joy to finally see Rhaegar onscreen—just as it was to see Lyanna last season. After having heard conflicting reports of his personality (was he the rapist Robert claimed he was? the gentle bard Ser Barristen said he might be?), viewers were finally able, via Bran’s vision, to judge the man for themselves. The truth, as is often the case, is somewhere in the middle. Rhaegar and Lyanna might have been deeply and passionately in love. But pursuing that love still ripped the kingdom to pieces.

Rhaegar—who was born among salt and smoke and fire at the Tragedy at Summerhall—believed himself to be the Prince Who Was Promised. He’s not. But his son or even grandchild (if all that Jon and Daenerys foreshadowing pays off) might be. Ultimately, Rhaegar is not the hero he hoped he would be, or the villain history tried to make him. In fine Game of Thrones tradition, we can find this particular Targaryen somewhere in a moral grey area.

Of course, it remains to be seen how Jon will react to finding out that his real father lived in that grey area, particularly when he put so much pride and stock into being Ned Stark’s son. During last week’s episode, “Beyond the Wall,” Jon told Jorah: “My father was the most honorable man I ever knew.” He’s in for a rude awakening if and when Bran and Sam enlighten him next season.

As for the young actor who plays Rhaegar, casting director Nina Gold really outdid herself this time. Welsh actor (and caterer? his Instagram is very food-friendly) Wilf Scolding has very few credits on his CV, but he is a dead ringer for Harry Lloyd, who played Rhaegar’s useless onscreen brother, Viserys.

If you want more of Scolding, you can scroll through his Instagram. . .

. . .or check out this charming audition bit he has on Vimeo. (Wait for it.)

We’ll have to stay tuned to find out if Scolding will be back for Season 8—though it would be a shame not to get more of Lyanna and Rhaegar’s story as their descendant and sibling, Jon and Daenerys, play out their own (we presume) doomed love story during the Great War to Come.